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Friday, September 20, 2013

I had my scissors ready for cutting this morning as I headed for work. Last Monday, during the rain, I spent the morning finding good pictures on the internet of 10 different bird species. The Tamarac Fall Festival will be happening about a week after I leave here, but one of the activities for visitors will be to learn to identify these ten species. After Janice, the volunteer coordinator, printed my found pictures off, it was my job today to cut all their silhouettes out and then laminate them. They’ll be posted in trees and grasses at the festival site. Visitors will be given a pair of binoculars and asked to find these breeding birds of Tamarac at one of the activity stations.

After I got them all cut out, Janice gave me a run through on how to operate this large laminator. Most of the laminators I’ve used at other refuges have been little desk top models that are quite easy to use.

One of the challenges of using this bigger model is its location. Since the normal office and visitors center has been closed for a year, all of the equipment is crammed into the maintenance buildings. I won’t go into all the details of operating this thing, but just let me say it was interesting for a vertically challenged individual.

Janice got the first batch going, and it really took two of us to manage it in a timely manner since it was too high off of the ground, and you couldn’t get behind it to keep the laminate taut as the pictures rolled out.

After lunch, I spent some time trimming all of those birds so they could be used individually. Not very exciting, but it was something to do on another dismal rainy day.

Here’s half of what I ended up with.

And here’s the other half. (You can ignore that dark chocolate Milky Way on the right )

There are some duplicates, but all in all there are ten species of birds displayed. So, here’s the little contest. Can you identify what ten species are represented? They are all birds that breed on the refuge in the summer, and there aren’t any exotic birds in their midst. I even have a small prize in mind for the person that can name the most amount of species correctly.

I know most of you aren’t bird nerds, but if you have a bird guide it shouldn’t be too difficult. You also have to understand that after seven days of rain, fog, and dreariness, I’m getting a little desperate for blog topics. Here’s a hint to get you started: the bird in the top center of the first pic is a black-billed cuckoo.

Tomorrow, some fellow bloggers will stop by for a visit, and if the drizzles ever stop I’m hoping to dry my outside rug and pack it away. Slowly but surely I’m getting things packed up for my departure.

That Indigo Bunting reminds me. When granddaughter Charlotte was two, I went with her and my daughter to local library for story-hour. The reader opened a book and asked the children what was in the picture, expecting to hear "bird". Charlotte said - Goldfinch. She was right. Then the next picture she said Bluebird. Daughter Amy replied to me - "can you believe she said Bluebird? That's an Indigo Bunting!" Hey, the child was TWO. Now at 7 she knows a heck of a lot more than her old grandma!

I'm still working on my list of sightings. Thanks for the confirmation they were Pelicans flying overhead. Hubby thought so. (Hate to tell him he's right).